1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a process for producing an electronic circuit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for producing an electronic circuit by utilizing an electrophoretic treatment technique. The production process of an electronic circuit according to the present invention can be regarded as a production process of an electrically conductive pattern or a method for electrically conductive pattern formation.
2. Background Art
Various methods have hitherto been proposed for the production of electronic circuits. An example of a widely adopted method comprises providing a mask layer corresponding to an electronic circuit pattern, for example, on an electrically conductive surface of a substrate, subjecting the assembly to etching treatment to remove the electrically conductive layer on the substrate, and then separating the mask layer to form an electrically conductive pattern on the substrate.
Another example of the method for electrically conductive pattern formation is a method in which electrophotography has been applied. The electrophotography is a method in which a photoreceptor is evenly electrified, for example, by corona discharge under light shielding conditions, light is applied by a laser or an LED light source to allow charges to disappear and thus to form a desired charge pattern, and adhering, by electrostatic force, toner particles electrified based on this pattern to form a pattern on the surface of an electrically conductive substrate.
In this method utilizing the electrophotography, the use of electrically conductive particles, for example, metal particles, as toner particles can also realize the formation of a wiring pattern by simple optical writing. The use of such metal particles is disadvantageous in that, upon contact with a roller, which is unavoidably used in an electrophotographic treatment process, for example, with a development roller for the application of a development voltage, a latent image formed on the photoreceptor is sometimes broken. Accordingly, this method is not always suitable for the formation of an electrically conductive pattern with high accuracy.
To overcome this problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 48030/2004 discloses a method for electrically conductive pattern formation has been proposed which comprises forming a pattern using toner particles into which a minimized amount of metal particles have been mixed (development), and finally conducting plating treatment along this pattern using the metal particles as a core to form an electrically conductive pattern.